Snow Nigh in South Carolina!!!!

Sara was so very excited about the snow heading our way. The weather forecast called for snow after the sun went down. Well, at the barn it snowed like crazy before the sun went down and Sara made the most of it. On the way home, it was coming down sideways and the biggest flakes I had ever seen! When we arrived home, the roads were full of snow and the driveway was quite slippery! This is Sara standing in front of a little plant at the side of our garage. It had been snowing about 30 minutes, so we still had plenty to come!

Winch "snowy" house

This is what we woke up to this morning! There was enough snow to make several snowmen... although I can't say I was really up to doing that. The roads were clear, but we had a pretty nice white blanket on everything else.

J&B Stables

This is my favorite! It's a picture of the driveway to the barn! I love the way the trees look when they have no leaves and are full of snow!

Duke

This is "Duke" Nick and Bob's dog! We let him out this morning and he went crazy with the snow. He loved it. I threw snowballs at him and he would eat them!

Snowy Palm

First palm tree that I have EVER seen with snow on it! This is in my front yard after about 1 hour of snow.

Bob at it again......

Here's Bob, I think in his previous life he was a fisherman and just doesn't know it.

He caught this huge fish in a pond on the golf course where we live. I think it's a spotted red fish - (see the dot on his tail)

Anyway, he always catches and releases when fishing in the ponds.

Way to go Bob! Must be the glasses!!!

QUEBEC HERE WE COME......

Well, it getting very close to Hayden leaving for his trip to Quebec to play in the biggest hockey tournament in the world! So many countries are being represented, including England... I didn't even know they could play ice hockey over there!!!

Anyway, it has been quite exciting getting the dozen e-mails on a daily basis and trying to keep up with them. Then there's the 5 hour drive one way to Raleigh for a 1 hour training session and a 5 hour drive back. Let's just hope the little bugger appreciates this and kicks some butt in Quebec! GOOOOOOOOOOO HURRICANES!!!

SCHOOL

Sara, Nick and Hayden on their first day of school. They are all staying around the same height of each other pretty darn well. I am now the shortest in the family, which really comes as no surprise!

Sara started her freshman year in High School, Hayden started middle school and Nick is in his last year of middle school.

Since this picture was taken, I think they have each grown several inches more!

IEA Horse Show...

Here's a picture of Sara riding in her first IEA Horse Show with her new team from Storybook Farms. Sara had a great ride and finished 2nd in the jumping class riding "Henry" who was brought in from Evermore Farms in Ga. Sara also rode in a flat class on another horse from Ga. and finished 4th in that one.

When you compete in these shows, they go down a list and pull a horse out and it's the luck of the draw! Sara has done so well riding so many different horses.

Hockey Camp

This is the hockey camp Hayden went to. He said it was absolutely amazing!!! Hard work, hard work and more hard work.

Hayden was selected as the number one draft pick out of 33 kids - quite impressive to say the least.

He said he wants to go back next year, but for 2 weeks not one!

MALL OF AMERICA

On the way up to Minnesota to drop Hayden off at hockey camp, Bob, Nick & Hayden visited the Mall of America. Bob went to find a Starbucks - or the closest thing and the boys rode the rides. They loved it, and could have stayed all day.

Hopefully, we will get to go back there one day and we all can enjoy it.

RED BARN

This is a picture of our barn - we had been waiting and waiting to have it painted, but every time "the day" was scheduled, the weather did not cooperate.
We finally managed to get it done and it looks absolutely gorgeous!
This wasn't good enough though, it looked so nice that we had to do the inside too! So off to the paint store and we bought a nice light tan - looks like a brand new place.

Winning Show....

These are the two little girls that Sara trains at our barn - J&B Stables. We recently took them to a show up in Clemson, SC. Sydney (holding the ribbon) won Reserve Champion in her division, which consisted of 6 classes and then Carly went on to place 2nd - 3rd - 4th in each of her classes. This was Sydney's 2nd show and for Carly, it was her first.

They each did an excellent job and came home very happy little girls. We are so proud of the job that Sara has done with the girls.

Sara went on to show the next day, and came home with a bunch of ribbons too! So all in all it was a great weekend!

HAYDEN TURNS 12

Hayden has finally become a pre-teen and finally turned 12 this past Thursday.

He is now taller than me (not too hard to accomplish, as they all are) and acts as though he is 20!

In other good news, he is still playing hockey but for the Bantam team, which is above where he should be, and he also made the Cario Middle School golf team. This means extra running around for both me and Bob, probably mostly me as Bob is in his season right now.

Speaking of which, Bob opened his season with a 14-0 win and then went on to win his second game 4-2! But then he lost his game yesterday 3-0. Let's hope that the girls pick things up a little bit and get back on the win list.

First day of School - August 2009

Okay, here they are....... first day of school 2009.

Bob is getting quite handy with his cell phone, and took this picture after I had gone to work.

I can't believe how quickly they have all grown up.

Sara has gone into High School this year, Nick into 8th grade and Hayden has FINALLY left what I call "baby school" and moved on up the ladder to Middle School.

Let's hope for a great year!!!!

Sweetie & Princess Night @ Chick-Fil-A

Here we have Sara, Hayden and Sweetie. Sweetie is the little miniature we have out at the barn. She is a pistol to say the least. Sara and Hayden rode in the back of the trailer with her to make sure she was okay, which I might add that she did very well for her first "field trip" in a very long time. To the right we have a picture of us all at the "chick" and being of course Sweetie being adored by a couple of the Princess customers! Sara painted her hooves sparkly pink, which the girls just adored! In the photo, we have Sara, me, Linda, Carly, Denise and Sydney in the front. We had a really good time, and hope to do it again.

Sara & Haley @ PSJ

Sara and Haley decided to both do the PSJ show at the local grounds her in South Carolina. It was a nice change from driving the 4 hour drive to Aiken - showing - and coming back all in the same day!

They both did quite well considering the amount of people who turn out to these shows.

We are very proud of them both.

8th Grade Graduation

Here they are...... Sara and her Dad! Today is Sara's day. She is graduating from Middle (Junior) School and is moving on up to High School! Doesn't she look lovely? I am sure you all know that she got her fashion sense from her lovely Mother... right!!!

Anyway, sarcasm asisde..... Sara is so excited to be going to High School. Her graduation gift was a new laptop! I think that excites her more!

Sara was only 1 point away from being on the honor roll for a full year, which was an incredible feat for her. We are so very proud of her for all her effort and hard work.

Way to go Sara..... enjoy high school - but work hard!

Graduation

Hayden FINALLY graduated from Elementary School. I say finally, because it seems like he has been there forever! I suppose when two children have gone through elementary, it seems to drag out and take longer for the last one.

I reminded him today that he is now out of "baby school" and he is moving on to the big leagues. Let's hope that he manages to stay out of the principles office - I knew the principal all too well at this place. Time to grow up and move on!

Good luck Hayden!

Riding Time

Here's Nicholas at the quarry that we ride to. He had been bugging us to take him on a trail ride. Well, this was one to remember. He rode the nicest of the horses, as we did not want anything to happen to him. Then we arrived at the quarry and he decided to take a little dip! You don't really know what might be lurking in the water, so he jumped in several times and then came back up and out really, really fast.

I don't think he is impressed with riding, as the "jewels" got a little bit smushed due to the horse wanting to trot a little bit.